The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good.”
Fortitude “strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life,” the Catechism continues, “enabling one “to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions. It disposes one even to renounce and sacrifice his life in defence of a just cause. ‘The Lord is my strength and my song.’ ‘In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.’” (CCC 1808)
St. Thomas Aquinas said, “Fortitude is assigned to the irascible power, and temperance to the concupiscible power.”
Pope Francis commented: “Here, then, is the most ‘combative’ of the virtues. If the first of the cardinal virtues, that is, prudence, was primarily associated with man’s reason; and while justice found its in the will, this third virtue, fortitude, is often linked by scholastic authors to what the ancients called the ‘irascible appetite,’ Ancient thought did not imagine a man without passions: he would be a stone. And passions are not necessarily the residue of a sin; but they must be educated, they must be channelled, they must be purified with the water of baptism, or better with the fire of the Holy Spirit. A Christian without courage, who does not turn his own strength to good, who does not bother anyone, is a useless Christian. Let us think about this! Jesus is not a diaphanous, ascetic God, who does not know human emotions.”
The Holy Father described the twofold development in the virtue of fortitude: one passive, another active.
“The first is directed within ourselves. There are internal enemies we must defeat, which go by the name of anxiety, anguish, fear, guilt.... Fortitude is first and foremost a victory against ourselves. Most of the fears that arise within us are unrealistic, and do not come true at all. It is better, then, to invoke the Holy Spirit and face everything with patient fortitude: one problem at a time, as we are able, but not alone! The Lord is with us..... And then there is the second movement of the virtue of fortitude, this time of a more active nature. In addition to internal trials, there are external enemies, which are life’s trials, persecutions, difficulties that we did not expect and that surprise us.”
Fortitude can be acquired or infused. Acquired fortitude is aimed at human justice and the welfare of the state, whereas infused justice is directed towards the supernatural end of enjoying God. Fortitude involves both taking initiative and endurance. Endurance is the principal act of fortitude, and martyrdom is the ultimate expression of infused fortitude. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, fortitude is exemplified in martyrdom.
Msgr. J. Brian Bransfield, former General Secretary of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, wrote, “The Christian life challenges the world. But the believer is tempted through fear to compromise the Christian way and give in to the world. When a Christian is shy or apologetic about the faith, the virtue of fortitude can strengthen the believer to resist the fear.”
At the other extreme, he wrote, “fortitude moderates the temptation to proclaim the Christian message in an overzealous way. A too aggressive campaign disrespects the full depth of human nature by reducing Christianity to force. In such cases, fortitude introduces moderation.”
Msgr. Bransfield noted that St. Gregory the Great’s teaching on fortitude –that it “actually inspires the Christian to heroically love the difficulties of this world for the sake of the next world. Fortitude inspires us to endure and remain steadfast under all kinds of dangers, including death, with confidence in God.”
Thomas à Kempis wrote, “Little by little, with patience and fortitude, and with the help of God, you will sooner overcome temptations than with your own strength and persistence.”
The practice of fortitude is related to the exercise of other virtues. According to St. Bernard, “Prudence is the mother of Fortitude, nor ought any deed of daring to be called fortitude, but rather rashness, if it be not the child of prudence.”
St. Augustine said, “Purity is a virtue of the mind, and it has fortitude as its companion, by which it determines to endure any evils rather than consent to evil.”
Author Peter Kreeft said, “Our instinctive desire for pleasure and fear of pain is the matter, or raw material, to be formed and controlled by all four cardinal virtues. Prudence provides the map, fortitude tames the fears, temperance tames the appetites, and justice regulates the resulting activities.”
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